Despair filled Ray’s face as he just sort of fell backwards onto the floor. Since day one everything went bad for Ray. First he died before he could graduate and enjoy life with a good salary, then he was apparently abandoned in pain for two thousand years, next he found out he was going to a cultivation world with shit cultivation talent, thinking they were helping him his parents permanently harmed his already god awful cultivation speed, also he can’t ever truly die, after trying to avoid being close with his family he ended up being great friends with his sister however he was abandoned shortly after. Now he has twenty four hours to flee before some crazy powerful enemy of his family comes to kill anyone left.

‘It’s not like I expected the life of a novel’s main character, I mean my cultivation is terrible. But, I never expected my sister to essentially be a main character… Apparently she has some massive unknown talent and our family has a crazy strong enemy so the talented have to flee so the family can be revived while us low-talents are to try and hide while basically just being distractions for the enemy… Dammit! I’m just a background character, aren’t i?!’ Laying down for an hour, he finally continued, ‘I knew I shouldn’t get close to people since they’ll probably just die of old age but I hadn’t thought I’d be abandoned… Dammit, this hurts more than what I’d imagine family dying would be like.’ At the end of his train of thought, tears were streaming down his face. He just laid there letting his tears fall for an unknown amount of time til an aged voice sounded behind him.

“Young master! Your mom told me what’s happening and I stayed behind after the other servants left to make sure you got out. I know you’re feeling pain right now but it will disappear with time, for now you need to leave. This backpack,” he said as he made the silent Ray situp and put the backpack on him before continuing, “I packed a week’s worth of dried food in here and water for two days. Your pure energy stones, spatial ring, cultivation technique from the elder, and throwing knives are in here too.”

Hesitating, the old man paused for a few minutes and sighed, “Sigh, Young master Jay. I have a duty to perform before I can leave which is making sure you use the portal stone and then burning the note. I hope you’ll forgive this old man…”

Ray seemed to snap to attention as something seemed off. However, immediately after he felt the hand holding the portal stone be squeezed and the stone breaking. Since he wasn’t breaking it, the old servant did so before starting a fire on the table with the note and running off. Before he could react Ray felt the familiar sensation of weightlessness as when he was sent to this world, just at a weaker level. His surroundings changed and he saw a pitch black space with odd gray swirls throughout it. He seemed to be floating forwards with the rock protecting him from those dangerous feeling gray swirls of energy but he noticed that after a few seconds he felt extremely tired before completely losing consciousness in the black space.

__________

On a massive continent in the Low Realms, well known by high-level cultivation families as a continent of beasts for resources and training, there’s a small cave with a fast flowing creek running past the cave entrance. A deep black crack appeared in the cave as an unconscious five year old and a red rock fell out of it before the crack disappeared. The rock disintegrated into the air before hitting the ground while the child fell face first on the cave floor. Other than the child that cave was empty. Since it’s small, about 3 meters long, one meter wide, and three meters tall, with only a creek nearby for water not many beasts would choose it as a home.

Waking up, Ray brushed off the dirt as he thought, ‘Huh. So it wasn’t a nightmare… My family did abandon me… Well, at least my main character sister gave me a way out other than trying to hide but ultimately being caught and dying as a distraction. Damn, maybe being close to a few people would be a good idea. My talent probably wouldn’t have cared if we didn’t spend so much time together… ‘ Looking around, Ray noticed that he was in a small cave with a flowing creek in front of him. As a business and physics major he doesn’t have much outdoors experience but he’s at least stronger than an average adult with his cultivation but his body’s height is still limited. ‘I don’t know how to purify water but maybe my cultivation will keep me from being sick as it removes impurities from my body. So, we have a small empty cave and a water source, seems like a decent enough home for now… I should probably reach twelve before leaving. As a five year old I’m probably going to just get robbed or killed in this strength based world but I assume a teen would have better luck being taken seriously. Well, this is assuming that I can get enough food til then. Hmph… Those damn elder’s wanted to leave me behind? Fuck it, I was Ray Black longer than I was Jay Rey so, from now on I’ll go by my origional name of Ray Black.’

Ray has two days of clean water and a flowing creek to rely on after plus a month's worth of dried rations, however, that’s just rations not meals. In reality he eats more as a cultivator so that’s about a week's worth of food if he wants to cultivate and eat a healthy amount, so he’ll need more food within a week. For now, Ray decided to cover the entrance a bit and practice using his only weapon, throwing knives, until he’s comfortable enough to try and hunt for food or forage.

Since a decision for the future was made, albeit a garbage one since he doesn’t really know how to hide a cave entrance or use any martial arts. Ray knows business and physics, not outdoors or physical skills but he needed some food and throwing knives are better than a spear since he’s still small. So, Ray began his plan.

Upon exiting the cave, Ray saw that his cave has a small, two feet wide and one foot deep, creek flowing a few feet from the entrance while the rest of the area is full of broadleaf trees found in warm environments such as this. His cave is located at ground level of a twenty foot high cliff face. Ray took a throwing knife from his backpack to cut down thin branches with leaves and vines. After cutting them down, he used the vines to tie the branches together and make a half-baked wall to cover the entrance, taking about three hours. Next he collected leaves wood and formed a stupidly basic bed of leaves while stacking branches and wood for a fire later on. Naturally he wasn’t satisfied with the trashy bed or non-camouflaged covering of the cave but when he finished it was nearing night time so he gave up and collapsed asleep. Ray had been through too much and needed to calm down but, being the indoors guy he is, he hadn’t considered that something might come in the cave while he slept.

This might be Ray’s first time relaxing since he came to this world. Yeah it sucks that he was abandoned by his new family but now he doesn’t have to worry about acting or speaking like a kid his age and can just be himself. So, with that thought in mind he slept peacefully in his uncomfortable leaf bed. As the sun rose, Ray awoke. His back didn’t feel great from the leaf bed but had no idea how to make a better primitive bed so he left it alone and exited the cave to look at the wall he made. Ray was also unsatisfied with the wall as it didn’t really camouflage the cave’s entrance so he spent an hour digging some mud from the creak and smearing it over the branches and leaves to blend in more. After that he leaned it against the wall at a slight angle so there’s room for fresh air without being very visible. ‘The wall isn’t perfect and the bed sucks balls but it’s all I got. I can’t expect myself to become an outdoor survival expert by day two. Oh fuck, how am I supposed to light a fire?! Shit, this means I have to forage til I learn how to light a fire… I think I remember some youtube video saying to rub some juice or part of the fruit or whatever onto my skin and wait a few hours for a reaction to see if it’s poisonous or not.’

Ray was feeling regret for being an indoors person. Naturally he understands the concept of starting fires from watching tv shows, like Survivor, but that doesn’t mean he can implement it… So, Ray set out to scavenge for some food reserves as he needs a plan for food before he runs out of his current food. Staying within 15 meters of the cave, Ray held a throwing knife in each hand while a vine wrapped from his shoulder to his waste with the other eight. He doesn’t know what’s out there on this continent, nor has he seen or fought a beast of this world, but he should be prepared.

__________

It didn’t take him too long to explore the 15 meter area. As Ray walked around, he was a bit panicked. He’s never really done anything like this before but, more importantly, the only major pain he’s felt is the soul wrenching pain after the airplane. What if when he gets attacked and passes out after seeing lots of blood? Either way, Ray needed food so he kept frigidly walking around as he looked for fruits or some kind of grass that seemed enticing. Ray wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking for.

Around an hour after beginning the search he found a tree bearing a fruit similar to a red apple with yellow zebra stripes. After looking around he found four more of them within twenty meters of the cave with about twenty or so fruits on each. So, he plucked three of them and went back to the cave. Once in the cave, he used a knife to cut a fingernail sized hole to rub on his wrist. After that, he waited for three hours to see if it was edible. Interestingly enough, right as the juice touched his skin he felt an odd moisturizing feeling. ‘Interesting, is this moisturizing feeling a small amount of wood elemental energy? I can’t particularly sense any energy but the Parasitic Core spasmed… Maybe it’s just too little of an amount, practically none. I wonder if these are common on this continent or that cultivation city mom mentioned? I mean, this seems like a beast free area yet there are over eighty fruits...’ With this thought in mind Ray began thinking of something to do for about three hours waiting for results.

For these three hours, Ray decided to begin his training on throwing knives against a thicker piece of firewood he brought in earlier. Unfortunately he had never done anything like this before and didn’t have anyone to learn from so he failed miserably. By the end of the three hour period Ray was feeling embarrassed even though nobody was there to see him as he flailed around like an idiot throwing knives. In an effort to forget his failure he put no more thought into it and quickly ate one of the fruits. His arm didn’t have a rash or any other adverse reaction and he had no other way to check if it’s healthy or not so… he ate it. Taking one bite after the other, Ray found the fruit pieces filling his stomach and slowly dissipated what seemed like what he imagined wood elemental energy to be. He instantly felt full and energized so he sat down and cultivated for the rest of the day before falling asleep. The next day, Ray continued to cultivate but he was surprised to find that he still felt the wood elemental flow and remained full. This continued for another day and a half before he was hungry again and the energy flow ended.

‘Interesting. So this fruit feeds me for three days… Well, there are four trees with a little over twenty fruits each so I guess I have nine months worth of food. Okay, new plan! I’ll stockpile a few days of fruits at a time so I can stay in my cave, spending most of the day cultivating and a couple of hours figuring out how to use throwing knives. Alright, it’s a decent enough plan for now and at least I don’t need to start a fire anymore.’ Ray was starting to feel excited. He doesn’t need to act young in front of others, has enough resources to reach Peak Body Foundation, a cultivation method for Meridian Opening and beyond, and now he has a food source for nine months. All Ray needs next is to cultivate til he’s twelve or thirteen so he can find his way to the cultivation city at a tolerable age and begin gathering resources for his future extraordinary long cultivation. So, he ate a fruit and sat down to begin his cultivation.

__________

Taking a look at the knives he has, Aria begins thinking of a way of using them. Eight of the knives are six and a half inches long while the other two are twelve inches long. The blades are in a triangular shape with concave, leather-like material wrapped handles and a finger ring at the end. The two longer knives have blades in a curved triangle shape similar to Expendables Kunai while the other eight are smaller versions without curved edges. The two long knives are balanced with the center of gravity where the handle meets the blade. The eight short knives are balanced with a heavier blade.

He figured that the shorter ones are for closer throwing while the longer ones are for longer distances but either one can be used for close combat since they have that ring and leather for good grip. Ray isn’t used to pain so he decided to throw them by the handle, rather than the blades like the movies, to avoid cutting himself. 

‘In the movies, ninjas grabbed the knives from belts or pouches with two fingers before flipping them in the target’s direction for spin, right? Not sure why they did that but that’s really all I have to go on for how to use throwing knives. Hmm… Should I start throwing them straight til I can reliably hit the target? Spinning the knives before hitting the targets looks cool but seems hard. Okay, yeah, let’s just grip it like a hammer or something and try throwing it straight before doing any ninja shit.’ Thought Ray as he was cultivating.

So, after coming up with something of a plan he grabbed some pure element stones and began to cultivate. Once again feeling miffed about half the energy going to that damn Parasitic Core. After cultivating for most of the day he was going to start practicing using the knives until he opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness. It seems both modern earth and living in the house of a prince spoiled Ray who completely forgot it gets dark before bed time so he made the decision to stop cultivating midday to practice.

Starting the next day, Ray began practicing with his weapon only to find out that while hitting the still target is easy, getting the knife to pierce it or getting it to hit a specific point on the target is crazy hard. There isn’t much of a point to hunt massive beasts for food if he can’t hit vitals. Well, he assumes the beasts are massive but the only beasts he’s seen are the Parasitic Core and some messenger beasts flying from nobel house to nobel house in the Central Rei capital. At the end of the day, these weapons are pretty hard to use but Ray won’t give up since it’s his only weapon. However, practice makes perfect and within a few days he was able to throw the knives without spin and have them pierce the wood. Unfortunately his aim was off so he couldn’t hit where he wanted to, but, seeing progress, his moral rose as he began to work harder.

While cultivating and practicing, four months flew by. Ray was a bit concerned now as he was halfway through his food yet he hadn’t even hit someone in his past or current world so how was he to kill a beast? During this time he found that, although he isn’t a knife genius, he’s at least average with throwing knife skills. So, Ray can hit a moving target as long as it isn’t super fast, is within fifteen feet, and only throws the knife straight without any spin. He can’t spin the blades or the handle will hit the target, he can’t throw knives while he is moving, he can’t hit fast moving targets, etc. Basically as long as he stands still and the target is no faster than a light jog, he can hit it with a straight throw but there’s no guarantees on killing it or not hesitating. ‘What if I hesitate and get seriously injured? My body isn’t immortal yet and I don’t know what happens to my soul if my body dies now. Alrighty, in the morning I’ll go get some fruits for the next few days before practicing more. Let’s give ourselves three more months before we try any kind of hunting.’

 As the sun rose, Ray began whistling as he meandered over to the fruit trees. During these four months he was pleasantly surprised that he hadn’t encountered any beasts or people near his cave and started to become more relaxed as the days passed. Thus he whistled and skipped to the tree before grabbing a fruit. Just as he reached towards the first fruit he heard a rustling sound from the bushes behind the tree as a young male and female came stumbling out, tears in their eyes and blood on their clothes. The two seemed to be dragging an early twenties female who seemed unconscious behind them. Ray froze when he saw them for two reasons, one, he seemed to develop an anxiety of people since his best friend died on a plane and then his new family abandoned him and two, that was a massive amount of blood between the three. Ray was trained in basic first aid and CPR like most college students who want an easy health class, but he hadn’t truly seen much blood before.

The two’s eyes lit up when they saw Ray and, stumbling over, they begged, “Please! Please, w-w-we need to rest, do you know where we can rest? Our sister, s-she’s dying and there’s beasts all over the place!”

At this point Ray was in a tough spot as he didn’t really know these people nor if he could trust them but as someone from earth he didn’t feel right just abandoning them to die… Also this is the first time he heard of any beasts being nearby and kind of wanted information about that. So, Ray nodded and took out the two longer knives before saying, “I’ll let you stay in my place but if any of you try anything stupid I’ll slit your fucking throats. Just because I look young doesn’t mean I’m a damn idiot.” Naturally he was faking this tone and harshness as he hasn’t even killed many insects, let alone a person.

However, the two seemed sufficiently scared as they nodded their heads with their already pale faces seeming even more devoid of blood from fear. Turning around, Ray plucked a few fruits before walking towards his cave and gesturing with his hand. Once again he hoped he came off intimidating but the reality is that all of the blood made him feel a bit sick so he turned around to not see it anymore. 

The trio plus one unconscious woman soon approached the cliff where Ray gestured to his ugly camouflage wall and said, “There’s a crack to slip through on the right side, go in there but don’t bitch at me if it isn’t comfortable. Of course it isn’t, I’m only five after all. How would a five year old properly pimp out a cave?”

Maybe his prior intimidation worked as they seemed in a daze for a moment, as if just now realizing that he is only five, before quickly heading into the cave with Ray following behind. Upon entering the two realized just how small and uncomfortable Ray’s home was. Consisting of a poorly made wall, a stack of firewood, and a bunch of leaves.

Seeing their awkward expressions Ray grumbled, “If there isn’t enough space than toss the wood outside somewhere nearby. Don’t expect any medicine or bandaids as I don’t even have another pair of clothes so I definitely don’t have any of those. Just treat yourselves, at least there aren’t any beasts nearby this cave so you should be fine here, I mean I’ve lived here for four months and haven’t seen one.”

Bowing in thanks the two quickly got to work and took out medicines and bandaids from their bags to heal themselves a bit before quickly helping the older woman. Ray was completely fascinated at the scene of sweet smelling pills being crushed and rubbed on wounds while they seemed to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. Although their faces were pale from blood loss and the woman was unconscious, the trio seemed to have all of their wounds heal.

Ray was snacking on a fruit as the trio finished healing and, hearing the crunching of a fruit, the two looked over at Ray before yelping, “Fasting Fruits! Are those from the trees we met you at?”

Their mouths seemed like an ocean as a near endless amount of saliva was dripping down. Seeing this Ray smiled wryly before tossing them each a fruit and another towards the unconscious lady. He figured something like this might happen and grabbed a few extras before leaving the trees.

Looking at the three Ray said, “Eat the fruits and go to sleep. Your sister seems healed and you all seem tired. I’m sure as hell not sleeping with three strangers in my house but, although I can’t trust you all yet, you can at least see from me inviting you in my home, feeding you, and from the fact that I’m only five, that I’m not going to attack you all. No beasts are near here either.” Sitting down against the wall, Ray mumbled, “Luckily I can go a few days without sleep if I’m not being extremely physically active now that I’m in the Late Body Foundation stage…” After hearing that the two seemed to hesitate for a moment before nodding and laying down tightly next to their older sister. Ray found his already small home a bit too cramped and went outside.